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April 15, 2016, 9:12 AM GMT / Updated April 15, 2016, 12:09 PM GMT

By Arata Yamamoto

TOKYO — A baby girl who was sleeping when a deadly quake rocked Japan was rescued unscathed early Friday after a six-hour rescue operation.

The eight-month old was pulled out of the rubble of a collapsed house in the southeastern town of Mashiki.

The tot was on the first floor when a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck on Thursday night, police told NBC News. Her mother, grandparents, and 4-year-old brother were in the kitchen and living room at the time, according to Japan's Mainichi newspaper.

Rescuers pull an 8-month-old baby girl from the rubble of a home in the southeastern Japanese town of Mashiki early Friday.APTN

Nippon TV reported that crossbeams from the home's roof collapsed around the baby and created a cavity that protected her.

Following the quake, the girl's mother could see her daughter through a small crevice but could not reach her.

Police told NBC News that the girl was freed at around 3:45 a.m. (2:45 p.m. ET Thursday) — six hours after the family called emergency services. She had not been injured.

At least nine people were killed, more than 800 were injured by Thursday's earthquake.

More than 134 aftershocks had been reported by 3 p.m. Friday (2 a.m. ET), officials said.

Arata Yamamoto

Arata Yamamoto has been a NBC News producer in Tokyo, Japan, since 1993. He has worked on an array of stories, including the 2004 Asian tsunami, the 2011 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, and Haiyan typhoon that struck The Philippines in 2013.